Electric car

Electric car, vehicle powered by one or more electric motors in which electricity is supplied by rechargeable batteries or is generated by a fuel cell. In an electric car, the electric motor replaces the traditional internal-combustion engine, converting electrical energy provided by the battery or fuel cell into mechanical energy. Rotation of the motor results from interactions between magnetic fields in the motor’s stationary and rotating components; this energy is then transferred through the drivetrain to turn the wheels.

Historical developments

Through the early period of the automotive industry, electric cars were competitive with gasoline-powered cars, especially in cities. Electric luxury cars, for example, were highly practical for urban use, as were electric trucks used for deliveries at closely related points, for which the relatively low speed and limited range, until battery recharge, were not detrimental. Electric vehicles, many of which were steered with a tiller rather than a wheel, were especially popular because they were quiet and required less maintenance than vehicles that relied on gasoline.

By the 1910s and early 1920s, however, significant advancements in gasoline-powered cars began to overtake interest in electric vehicles. An especially important advance was the introduction of the electric starter, first used in 1912 Cadillacs, by American engineer Charles Kettering. Up to that time, gasoline engines typically needed to be started by turning a hand crank, an inconvenient and even potentially dangerous task. Kettering’s invention greatly improved the ease of starting and operating gasoline cars and was increasingly adopted in other gasoline-engine cars. In addition, mass production, led by Henry Ford, helped reduce the cost of nonelectric vehicles. Electric trucks and buses persisted somewhat longer, notably in Europe.

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automobile: Early electric automobiles

Electric car prototypes reappeared in the 1960s and 1970s as concerns about air pollution, petroleum supplies, and rising fuel prices increased. Particularly during the oil crises in the 1970s, major U.S. manufacturers, faced with the ultimate exhaustion of petroleum-based fuels and with immediate rising fuel costs from the domination of Arab petroleum producers, once again began to develop electrics. Both speed and range were increased, and newly developed fuel cells offered an alternative to batteries, but by the mid-1980s electric cars had not yet become part of the automotive industry’s output. Most industrial in-plant carrying and lifting vehicles, however, were electrically powered.

Modern electric cars

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Interest in electric cars rose in the late 1990s, partly because of concerns about climate change. Toyota introduced the Prius, a hybrid capable of running both on battery power and on gasoline, first in Japan in 1997 and then worldwide in 2000. The popularity of the Prius led to the development of other hybrid vehicles, such as the Honda Insight (1999) and the Chevrolet Volt (2011). In 2008 Tesla released its first car, the completely electric luxury sports car Roadster, which could travel 394 km (245 miles) on a single charge. The success of the Roadster and other Tesla models led to other car companies designing their own all-electric vehicles, such as the Nissan LEAF (2010) and the Renault ZOE (2012).

In the 2020s, the electric vehicle market expanded significantly, enabled by multiple factors. A key advance was in lithium-ion battery technology, particularly the development of batteries with increased driving distances. In addition, public and private charging stations that supply electricity specifically to recharge electric cars, along with a wider selection of models, made the vehicles more appealing to and more practical for consumers. In 2025 alone, more than 20 million electric vehicles were sold worldwide, accounting for roughly one-quarter of the total number of new cars sold globally that year; China surfaced as the largest market and manufacturing center. Many major car companies had planned either to make mostly or only electric or hybrid cars or to stop developing new car models with internal-combustion engines by the 2030s; despite the growth of the industry, however, most had scaled back those plans, owing to changing market demands.